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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28568268">Dance of the Deities</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nintentea/pseuds/Nintentea'>Nintentea</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Legend of Zelda &amp; Related Fandoms</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:54:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28568268</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nintentea/pseuds/Nintentea</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Where did the Fierce Deity’s mask come from? The story dates back eons, when Hyrule was still new. The mortals were living peacefully until hoards of monsters with no leader attacked their lands, and there are worrying whispers from the north that an eternal winter is coming. The fate of the world will rest on the shoulders of a boy who dreams of demons and bears the mark of the moon upon his hand. This is the story of the last great war between darkness and chaos, the final dance of the deities. </p><p> </p><p>Content warnings for this fic include: Swearing, graphic descriptions of blood, gore and death, nudity but nothing sexually explicit. If there's anything else I'll add a CW at the start of the chapter.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! I'm someone who likes to write really long fanfics, but I've never uploaded one before because I'm nervous for some reason. I don't think this will be updated much after the prologue because I'd like to get a few chapters ahead before updating and I want to do some reading and assignment work. I may post updates on twitter, same name if you want to follow me there. </p><p>This idea has been in my head for a long time but I've recently watched Game of Thrones and started reading A Song of Ice and Fire which has provided a lot of inspiration for this fic. No main characters in the prologue but don't worry, Link will be present in chapter 1. ;) </p><p>Anyway, enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her legs threatened to give way as they ran, deeper into the blizzard and higher into the mountains. She didn’t feel cold; she never did, but she felt the heat of hand gripped around her wrist, dragging her farther and farther away.</p><p>“Come, my lady! We must find shelter!” her knight shouted at her. She could hear the panic in his voice, perhaps the first time she had heard any emotion from him. He had found her about a month ago, after many, many years of searching. He claimed her father had sent him to find and protect her from harm, but by the time he got there, it was already too late. Her captor had had her fun; she took her sight, she took her ability to carry children, she scarred her all over, taking great pleasure in her suffering.</p><p>Still, he got her out of the terrible place somehow; her world would always be dark, but at least she finally got to smell the fresh air once more, as opposed tp stale urine, rotting food, and death. This knight of hers had taken her to many different places, trying to outrun her captor’s henchmen. They ran, they flew, but sometimes, they stopped. She got the time to feel the sun warming her skin, small waves of the sea wrapping around her legs as her feet sunk into the sand, going further as she wiggled her toes. She smelt many different flowers, lilies and roses and daisies, and felt the soft blades of the meadow grass tickling the soles of her feet. At least, until her knight bought her some shoes. They had gone to the markets in Anorai, the land of eternal summer, almost immediately after he saved her, to help pick some fresh clothing. It was to closest land of civilisation to her prison. The merchants were kind about her blindness, allowing her to feel the smooth and velvety silks and soft cotton clothing they had. She was shocked when she heard the price, but the knight promised to buy her whatever she wanted.</p><p>“Lilac,” one had said to her. “Lilac would go well with your sun-kissed hair, my lady.”</p><p><em>My lady,</em> she had repeated back in her mind. The reverence surprised her after so many years of being called a beast, an abomination, and many other despicable names she didn’t bother trying to remember. She felt her hair at the comment, remembering how it was as white as the snow, shimmering like fine icicles in the winter sunlight. It was so soft and long, now it was matted and felt like straw, and she could feel the grittiness of the dirt in it. She could only imagine how terrible she must have looked, dressed in rags, no shoes, and dirty hair, and yet if the people of Anorai were judging her, she didn’t know. Their words spoke only kindness, and their looks she could not see.</p><p>He took her to the baths that night, getting a private bathing pool to themselves. She was nervous about undressing in front of her knight, but he assured her that he would only do what she wanted him to do, and wouldn’t look at her if she felt uncomfortable. At that point she barely knew the man, but she knew she could trust him, and so she took off her rags and took his hand as he guided her into pool, its warmth enveloping her and soothing her aching muscles. Taking a moment to relax and take in the sweet scents of the oils in the pool, she began to wipe herself down, trying to ignore the indents of her many scars. The knight began to help her with washing and brushing her hair, a tedious task caused by the matts. She suggested that he just cut it off and she would grow it anew, but he was determined to see his task through to the end, so long as he wasn’t hurting her.</p><p>As this was going to take a while, she decided to start some conversation. Very little had been said between them, only that the knight had said that he was a knight sent by her father.</p><p>“Are we going back to him? My father?” was her first question.</p><p>“When it is safe to do so, my lady,” he answered softly, starting with the brush at the ends of her hair. “Your father is currently fighting a war.”</p><p>She frowned. “My father isn’t the warmongering type.”</p><p>“He’s… changed, my lady,” he said hesitantly. “Grief does that to people. He’s trying to stop those who wronged you both from wronging anyone else. When the fighting is over, you will be back with him, I promise. In the meantime, he asked me to be your shield.”</p><p>She pondered for a moment. Her knight did not seem keen on talking about her father much, so perhaps it would be better if they just got to know each other instead. “Does my shield have a name?”</p><p>“Volga, my lady.”</p><p>“Can’t say I’ve heard of you before…”</p><p>“I have only recently come into your father’s service, my lady. Long after he lost you.”</p><p>“I see… Where are you from, Volga?”</p><p>“The fire pits of Drakonas.”</p><p>She knew he was smirking at her as her mouth hung open in surprise. “You… You’re a Dragon Knight.”</p><p>“Indeed I am, my lady.”</p><p>“I thought you people were just myths…”</p><p>“Not myths, just few in number, but the god of fire has been good to us in recent years. Most of the dragon children are male, but in recent generations we’ve been gifted with more girls.”</p><p>“I… That’s good. I enjoyed listening to stories of the dragon knights back in my youth. Born to fight, a race of honour and nobility. I dreamed of having one by my side when I was grown up.”</p><p>“Sometimes dreams can come true, my lady,” he said, making his way up to the mid-lengths of her hair.</p><p>She smiled, ignoring the sharp tugs on her hair as he tried his best to remove the tangles. “Indeed. Is it true that Dragon Knights actually turn into dragons?”</p><p>“Yes, my lady.”</p><p>“You don’t always have to call me ‘my lady’ you know,” she said softly. He said nothing back to her until he had finished brushing her hair, sliding back into the pool next to her. She could tell he was cold in the open air, she could feel his fingers shaking as one hand held her hair in place for the other to brush. Guessing where he was sat by the sound of the disturbance of the water, she held out her hands. “May I? I can only see with my hands.”</p><p>“Of course.” Gently, he took hold of her wrists and guided her hands to his face so that she could see him. He had a long face with a sharp jaw, her fingers feeling the pricks of some stubble protruding through the lower half of his face. He had soft, long hair tied up into a low ponytail. Her hands fell lower to his broad shoulders and arms, feeling the powerful muscles under his skin, which was a lot softer than she was expecting from a Dragon Knight. Volga was a tall man, judging by how high he sat in the pool. Her hands followed his arms down to his hands, holding them gently for a moment before letting go.</p><p>“Sorry,” she said finally after a few moments of silence. “If I made you uncomfortable.”</p><p>“Not at all,” Volga assured her, splashing the water about as he started washing himself down.</p><p>“Where will you take me now?”</p><p>“Wherever I can to keep you out of danger. By now she will know you’re gone, and she will do everything in her power to get you back.”</p><p>She bit her lip hard, feeling both scared and angry. “I thought she was kind, once. I thought she was helping me get back to my father.”</p><p>Volga sighed. “And he thought she was helping him find you.”</p><p>“I just… I don’t understand. Why?”</p><p>“She is the Goddess of Chaos. She enjoys wreaking havoc upon the land, and she enjoys using others like your father to do it. It’s a game to her, one she plays as easily as children play hop-scotch,” he muttered, a growl caught in the back of his throat.</p><p>The woman tensed at that. She knew the Goddess of Chaos' little games all too well. Her childish laughter filled the air as she whipped the girl, put a knife to her flesh, ripped out her womb and blinded her.</p><p>Volga seemingly noticed, gently resting a hand on her shoulder. “I will never let her touch you again. On my honour, even if costs me my life. I will make sure you are protected.”</p><p>“Thank you, Volga.”</p><p>He took her hand and helped her out of the pool, getting a towel and wrapping one around her and then himself, drying quickly and getting back into his armour before helping her get into her fresh new outfit of a light silk dress. Volga told her she looked like an ice princess.</p><p>When they left the baths, they heard many surprised whispers around them, and she could feel it on her face and bare arms. Snow was gently falling, perhaps for the first time ever in the desert lands of Anorai. The children gasped in awe, some running around trying to catch snowflakes in their hands, while the adults muttered something about it passing soon enough. It would never last here.</p><p>Even though she was feeling nervous about what was going on, Volga checked them into an inn with two single beds. The innkeeper showed them to their room, a small room with feather-filled pillows and straw-filled mattresses, and her bed was the most comfortable thing she had slept on for years.</p><p>Before drifting into a deep sleep, she could hear Volga at the window, praying.</p><p>“To the goddess of light, bring us the good summers and the light to see our path clearly.<br/>
To the goddess of time, give us enough to achieve our goals.<br/>
To the god of fire, keep us engulfed in your warmth and may we spread it to others.<br/>
To the goddess of power, give me the power to be the shield that protects those who need me.<br/>
To the goddess of wisdom, give me the wisdom to make the right decisions in hard times.<br/>
To the goddess of courage, give me the courage to complete my task with honour.<br/>
To my lord, the god of darkness… I hope you are listening, and know that I will come back to you. May your moon and stars guide us on our path home, and may you succeed with your task as I have mine.”</p><p>By the time she woke up, Volga had told her she had been out for nearly three days, and that Anorai was blanketed in snow. She could hear the panic of the people outside. Some of the whispers called it the end of days.</p><p>“We should leave, they’ll notice this,” Volga instructed when she got up and dressed, taking his own red fur cloak and wrapping it around her shoulders. Who ‘they’ were, she didn’t know, but she could guess. He took her by the arm and guided her away from the town’s market, to a quieter place hidden by a hill. “Hold onto me.” He got her to wrap her arms around his neck as he took hold of her legs so that his back supported her. “Keep low, and hold on. We’re going to fly.”</p><p>Just like that, she felt him morphing beneath her, his body no longer human. The cool, smooth metal of his armour became warm, rough scales. She felt the wings protruding from his shoulder blades, and with a loud flap, she felt the wind in her hair and the forward momentum. She was flying.</p><p>She would never forget that first flight, the wind whipping through her hair, the feeling of euphoria, the beating of Volga’s wings as they climbed through the clouds into the cold, thin air. The air had never smelled so sweet nor fresh.</p><p>They had flown many times since then, stopping only to eat or sleep when they found a desolate cavern to hide away in. The pair soon discovered that, wherever they went, the snows followed them, and from them she was truly dubbed the Ice Princess by Volga. Most of the time the snows were calm and gentle, covering the land in a soft blanket a few inches thick by the time they woke up, but if the woman started to panic, such as when they could hear the roar of monsters in the distance, the snows became a blizzard.</p><p>They were a blizzard now, and she couldn’t stop it. Volga usually guided her through a breathing exercise to help her calm down, but now even he was worried, pulling her further into the cold. They had been in a mountain range for a couple of days now, near a land Volga called Termina. Apparently, that was their final destination, but they had to wait nearby until the war was over.  The girl was too easily recognisable there, he told her.</p><p>The ground beneath them shook violently, and she could hear rocks falling around them.</p><p>Suddenly, the dragon knight fell. He had had a run in with monsters while he was out foraging two days prior, and one had stabbed him in the leg. While his honour would never allow him to show any pain, she knew it was hindering him. He was too injured to turn into a dragon, and he had become slower on foot.</p><p>“Volga.” She crouched down next to him, this time taking his arm as she tried to pull him back onto his feet.</p><p>“My lady, listen to me,” he ordered, grabbing her by the shoulders so that he could see her face. “You need to get yourself out of here.”</p><p>“I’m not leaving you!”</p><p>“We stay here, we die!”</p><p>“I won’t survive on my own!” she yelled, tears welling in her eyes. “I can’t <em>see</em>!”</p><p>“That, my lady, is a blessing,” he said in little more than a whisper, his tone hopeless. “You can’t see the horror befalling us.”</p><p>The ground shook again.</p><p>“What’s going on?!” she demanded, gripping Volga’s arm tightly as she tried yet again to get him on his feet.</p><p>“The moon, my lady… The moon is falling…”</p><p>She froze, looking up even though she could not see, but she could imagine it. The moon would fill the sky, light ablaze as it came crashing towards the earth, causing nothing but destruction. Even if she ran she would not be able to escape it.</p><p>“Please!” Volga begged. She did not see the shadows chasing them that he saw, and he knew exactly who they were. He would slow her down if they ran together, and he wouldn't be able to fight all of them off, but if she ran now, they would be preoccupied with him for a while, and she might just have a chance of escaping. “Go! Run and find shelter, my lady! If I survive this, I’ll come and find you, I promise.”</p><p>“But my father…”</p><p>“I still have my promise to keep,” Volga said softly, nearly drowned out by the growing winds. He thrust his dragonbone spear, his weapon of choice, into her hands. “If I don’t find you, he will. Now take this to protect yourself and go. GO!”</p><p>He pushed her away, and on instinct her feet started moving again, wandering aimlessly in the storm. She had no idea where she was going, or if she was going there in a straight line, but she felt like the wind was guiding her, pushing her in the direction she needed to go in.</p><p>Did she just hear a voice calling out to her? She was exhausted, and her legs were aching, and with the whistling of the wind, it could be anything. Perhaps she was imagining it.</p><p>No. There it was again.</p><p>
  <em>Over here!</em>
</p><p>Volga? No, that was a woman’s voice. Several other voices joined it, amplifying it, and she followed it, the wind helping her. Relief overcame her when she felt several hands holding onto her, guiding her to place that was out of the cold. She felt the warmth of a fire and heard the chattering of several voice which stopped as she entered the room.</p><p>“Where on earth did you find this one?”</p><p>“She was on her own, running through the snow.” The man was to her left, gently holding her arm just under the shoulder.</p><p>“How in the world…?” She could hear someone step in front of her, saying nothing. The girl could hear whispers in front her, accusing her of being a demon. The tiniest draft told her the person was waving their hand in front of her face, perhaps testing her sight, or lack of it. “She is no demon, this child is blind.”</p><p>“She has the demon’s hair,” came a gruff voice from further back in the room.</p><p>“Lots of people have white hair,” said the woman stood in front of her. “Come, child. Sit with us.”</p><p>So she did, and they gave her a hot bowl of soup which she sipped at gratefully. But she was still troubled.</p><p>“I didn’t come on my own,” she explained when the woman asked how she got here alone. “My knight… my Dragon Knight, he saved me, but he’s still out there and he’s hurt.”</p><p>“Dragon Knights don’t exist, surely?” came one voice.</p><p>“Look at the spear,” said another, an air of confidence in his voice. “That’s a dragonbone spear. Only Dragon Knights wield them. The blind girl is honest. Perhaps the knight she was with wasn’t.”</p><p>“Either way, we can’t send anyone out there in this storm, and not with that moon coming down.” As if on cue, the ground shook again. The time between each shake grew smaller. The end was nigh.</p><p>“Do you… live in the mountains?” the girl asked once she had finished her soup, enjoying the friendly warmth of the fire and trying to forget the troubles of the outside world.</p><p>“No, we… we had to leave home too,” said the woman who had welcomed her. “We are from the Lanayru Province of a leaderless land, hoping to find somewhere safe to live.”</p><p>“What happened?”</p><p>“One day, the ground opened up, and from there came many monsters, and the king of evil, Demise, leading them.” The woman’s voice shuddered as she spoke, and the girl wondered if they were human. Volga had said humans were cowardly creatures, running away from everything until the god they worshipped came down and saved them. “The goddess came down to save us, but it was too late. They say she put some humans onto a rock and sent it into the sky, but we didn’t get there in time, so all we could do was run.”</p><p><em>I can’t judge them,</em> she thought to herself. <em>I ran and I left Volga out there to die. I left him to die…</em></p><p>She swore a silent vow to herself there and then that she would never leave anyone behind again. She would learn to fight, sight or no sight. She would be strong. If the time before the end of the world would allow it. She gently stroked the spear, knowing that from then, she would wield it until she found its true owner again. She could find someone to teach a blind girl how to use it.</p><p>Everyone huddled together as the world shook and shook and shook.</p><p>Until it didn’t. The sudden silence was deafening. The wind had died down, and the earth stood still and stable once more. Cautiously, one of the humans approached the exit of their sanctuary.</p><p>“It… it’s gone,” he said, beckoning everyone else to come and look. Not her. She already knew, she could feel it. The moon had returned to its rightful place, high in the sky.</p><p>"He won..." The despair in that voice raised her suspicions immediately, and she raised her head.</p><p>“Quiet, you idiot!” another person whispered. “We still took that foolish Dragon Knight, and we’ll take her too. In revenge for our goddess.”</p><p>“In case you didn’t realise,” the girl started, rising to her feet and facing the voices, her blood boiling from the feeling of betrayal. They had tricked her. “I am blind, not deaf. You will take me nowhere. Go now and I’ll let you live.”</p><p>There was a stunned silence in the room as the girl lifted the spear. “Need I repeat myself?”</p><p>“Why you-” She heard the body run and lunge at her, and then a cry of pain as she stuck the pointed end of the spear into him, quickly pulling it back and hearing him fall to the ground with a <em>thud,</em> struggling for breath before becoming silent. </p><p>“Anyone else?”</p><p>“Get her!” The group attacked her at once, but she did not fear. Putting the spear down, she lifted a hand, concentrating her energy into stopping the mob. A wave of icy air left her hand, and the yells and cries stopped as she heard the crackling of the formation of ice, her ice. It encased every other person in that shelter.</p><p>With that, she knew the war was finally over, and she was safe at last, but she knew it wouldn’t be forever. She could go home, if only she knew where home was. Perhaps this could be her new home for a while, with her statues to keep her company. Volga promised that he would find her if he lived, and she had not made it very far.</p><p>“I suppose you all have a lesson to learn,” she sighed, taking a seat by the fire once more. “I suppose now you’ll have until the end of time to think about it.” She smirked, reaching over to the fire where she could smell a steak searing. She pulled it apart with her fingers and chewed on it thoughtfully, walking over to feel her newly formed ice statues. “You don’t mess with gods, and if I were you mortals, I wouldn’t mess with a demi-god, either.”</p><p>Having decided she had earned a rest, she settled down again and waited. And waited. But neither Volga nor her father ever came.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Boy in Green</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thought I'd give you a bit of the main characters now. I will try and write a few chapters ahead before updating again so I'll be a bit quiet now for at least a week as I get into it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A light breeze and the eruption of green surrounding the lands of Death Mountain signalled the arrival of spring, at long last. The winter had been long and brutal; snow had covered the land on more days this year than any other since the elders had started recording the weather over the years. Food stocks were running low, and the people of the kingdom of Hyrule were growing hungry.</p><p>The boy had climbed near to the summit, where it was always warm, and it gave him the best views of the land before him. Colour was returning to the kingdom, flowers were sprouting in the meadows, reaching for the sun. The trees were budding once more with green leaves or pink blossoms. Birds small and large were returning to the kingdom in droves, singing their songs. The rabbits had begun multiplying endlessly, feasting on the fresh grass. Wild horses ran free through Hyrule Field, and in the farmers’ fields, life was growing anew, with lambs, piglets, calves, chicks and foals to count and tend to. Spring was a magical time, least of all because it would be the boy’s name day soon.</p><p> “You’re up early today.” He jumped, ripped away from his thoughts. Next to him was the chief of the Gorons, the rock people who lived within Death Mountain. Darian, they called him. He laughed as he noticed the boy’s surprise. “Sorry, didn’t mean to make to you jump.”</p><p>“It never fails to amaze me that you can always sneak up on me,” said the boy with an amused smile.</p><p>“Hey, you should know by now… Just because we’re Gorons doesn’t mean we’re not light on our feet,” Darian told him with a wink, making the boy laugh as he recalled how much he and the other Gorons liked to dance. They had held many a ceremony within the mountain, not only for Gorons but for the other creatures of Hyrule too.</p><p>“Are you looking forward to your name day, Link?” Darian asked the boy, soaking up the glorious view of spring himself.</p><p>The boy grinned as he jumped up to his feet. “Absolutely!”</p><p>Darian chuckled at that, picking up the boy and sitting him on his shoulder, a comfortable perch for a Hylian boy of Link’s size. He was approaching his tenth name day, but even so, he was still small for his age. His hair was a light blonde, and grew to his shoulders. It was obvious he didn’t tend to it this morning, curls and kinks on the right side and back of his head where slept whilst the left side was still fairly straight. He still had a baby-face, his chubby cheeks a rosy pink from the climb and the heat at the summit, the shiny beads of sweat on his forehead accompanying them. He wore a short-sleeved tunic as green as the grass, with sturdy leather boots to protect his delicate feet.</p><p>“So… what do you want?” Darian asked as he began the walk back down the mountain, towards the city within. Disappointingly, he knew what the answer would be; the same answer it was every other year.</p><p>“I want to see Hyrule, and not just from the top of this mountain,” Link answered. Yes, still the same answer. Darian sighed. Link may have lived here all his life without leaving, but Darian knew the boy did not belong on Death Mountain. He wanted to be out amongst the living things and the colours, not the brown and grey of the rocks of the mountain, where nothing ever grew. Finding food for him during the winter had been difficult, and while Link was surprisingly able to eat and survive on rocks, he couldn’t thrive on them. It was only natural that he would want to fly the nest and be back among his own kind, but Darian was protective of Link, and therefore wouldn’t let him go easily.</p><p>“Link…”</p><p>“I’m nearly ten!” Link argued. “I can protect myself now!”</p><p>Darian scoffed. “Tell me, do you know how to wield a sword? Shoot an arrow? Ride a horse?”</p><p>“I can wield a sword,” Link huffed, folding his arms as he attempted to balance himself on Darian’s shoulder, slipping to one side occasionally as he walked. Eventually he gave up and leant against the Goron’s head.</p><p>“You can wield a stick, don’t think I haven’t seen you and Darmani out on the travellers’ path, playing Heroes and Demons or whatever you call it,” said Darian. “A sword is entirely different.”</p><p>Link said nothing, just sulking on his shoulder.</p><p>“Fine. How about a compromise, then?”</p><p>“A compromise?”</p><p>“Yes. If I can find you a proper teacher, and you can prove to me that you really can defend yourself, then I will – with supervision – allow you to leave Death Mountain and explore the eastern end of Hyrule Field,” he said softly, already feeling the waves of excitement radiating from the boy.</p><p>“Really?!”</p><p>“Really.”</p><p>“Thank you, Big Brother!” Link exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Darian’s head and hugging tightly.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. Now, go and find your little brother. No doubt he is sleeping in again,” Darian instructed, gently taking the boy off his shoulder and placing his feet back on solid ground. He took off immediately, disappearing behind the rocks.</p><p>The Goron chief sighed, looking up at the bright blue sky, a few clouds lingering in the distance. He had made his promise, and Gorons would never break them easily, but he had his doubts. Darian had found Link in tragic circumstances, and didn’t want him to face the same fate as his poor mother.</p><p>Link was found as a newborn child in a small cave at the bottom of Death Mountain nearly ten years ago. There was a lot of fighting back then; monsters had appeared from the Gerudo Desert in the west, and the king called his knights and any other men willing to fight to go forth and stop the intruders. The monsters broke through as far as Death Mountain, but the treacherous terrain of the mountain as well as the heat and falling boulders from the Gorons had pushed them away. Darian guessed that Link’s father had gone off to war. When he found the boy, the mother had already passed, having been cut by something. However, there was something odd about Darian’s discovery. He had been keeping watch from the top of the mountain that night when he saw a flash of light come from the cave at the base of the mountain, and then heard a child screaming as if it were in pain.</p><p>He couldn’t leave him there. He found the boy something soft to blend into a drink, and took him into Goron City, where he had lived ever since. The mother was buried in the cave she was found in, and Link visited it every few weeks now, maybe because it was the farthest away he was allowed to go. The other thing that puzzled Darian was the mark upon the boy’s left hand when he found him, like a birthmark but in the shape of a crescent moon, and it glowed brightly when he found the boy. However, it quickly faded over time to look like a real birthmark, and Darian didn’t dare give it much more thought than that. He was probably imagining the glowing, that was all. It had been a long night.</p><p>When he reached the city within the mountain, Link and Darmani were already there, playfighting as usual. He worried about the boy when that happened; Darmani was small but still bigger than Link, and too much rough play with a Hylian boy could be dangerous. Still, Link always took it in his stride, using his small size and agility to outwit Darmani’s strength. Even now he bested him in most fights.</p><p>“Now, now!” Darian called, making them both freeze. “Darmani, what have I told you?”</p><p>“He started it!” the little Goron argued, pointing a finger accusingly at Link, who narrowed his eyes and playfully sneered in reply. “He woke me up!”</p><p>“Because I told him to.” Darian shook his head and rubbed his eyes, hoping the children didn’t give him a headache this early in the morning. Link and Darmani were stuck together like glue, but that didn’t mean they weren’t constantly bickering.</p><p>“Why?” Darmani was clearing not impressed, folding his arms a looking up at Darian in disapproval.</p><p>“Because I want you to go and help the Goron elders. Link, you too. Some idiot messed up all their records, and I think I bit of help from the youth of our tribe would be appreciated,” Darian explained. “Besides, it might do you some good to learn a few things from them.”</p><p>Both of the boys groaned at that.</p><p>“Why can’t they just wait until later, when I’ve slept?” Darmani muttered.</p><p>“Because they don’t stay up all night like you,” Darian answered, poking the sulking youngster in the arm. “If you’re not finished by then, I’ll come and help when I return.”</p><p>“Where are you going?” Link asked.</p><p>“Out. To sort out our compromise. But only if you both go and help the elders.”</p><p>Link smiled at that and eagerly got to his feet, taking Darmani by the arm. The young Goron only looked more confused as the Hylian boy dragged him along with his new-found enthusiasm for sitting and sorting ancient records.</p><p>“Darrick!” Darian called, a large Goron warrior approaching him. “Gather your men. We’re going to Hyrule Castle Town.”</p><p>“Yes, Big Brother.”</p><p>Link and Darmani completed the climb up Goron city to the library, where the three Goron elders were waiting for them. They muttered something about the boys taking their time as Link started to pick up their records, looking at the dates on them. Most were labelled BHE and AHE; before Hyrule’s establishment and after Hyrule’s establishment, but some of the other parchments had other labels on there, and a few were written in an unknown language. As they were few and the elders knew the language, they decided to sort those ones out amongst themselves, Darmani offered to sort the BHE parchments, probably because there were few of them, and Link sorted the AHE parchments into chronological order.</p><p>Link had come to the library often when he was younger, the elders happy to read him stories from long in the past. His favourite, and perhaps the most famous, was the story of Demise, the Demon King. He had risen from a crack in the ground with hoards of monsters and attacked the mortals, and the Goddess of Time, Hylia, had come down from the heavens to stop him. She sent the humans that had survived onto a rock that she lifted into the sky, which became known as Skyloft. The humans there rode giant birds known as loftwings, which was where the symbol of Hylia came from.</p><p>After sealing Demise away, Hylia was injured and weak, and needed to use the power of the Triforce, a magnificent power from the Gods of Old: Din, Nayru and Farore. But gods cannot use the Triforce, so she decided to become a mortal, her soul being passed down to the Goddess Reborn many years later, when the land had begun to recover from Demise’s destruction. Demise’s lackeys still worked in the shadows to revive their king, and with the goddess’ soul, they were successful, but the goddess had an ace up her sleeve. Her chosen hero, who had grown up with the Goddess Reborn, wielding the sword that seals the darkness. Some of the scriptures said that he was a mere boy, training to become a knight, and he faced many trials on his journey to save his friend.</p><p>The Hero defeated Demise both in the past and the present, and together he and the Goddess Reborn brought together the leaderless provinces of the lands to form Hyrule.</p><p>Link loved that story and would sometimes play it out with Darmani. When they played with sticks, it was Heroes and Demons; Link would be the hero and Darmani would play a monster to be slain. Very occasionally, Link would allow Darmani to be the hero. They climbed around Death Mountain together, claiming new areas of the land to be theirs, calling it either Linkrule or Darmarule. They ran through short tunnels, pretending to be going back in time, when the gods still walked the earth.</p><p>If Darian kept his promise of allowing him to wield weapons and travel the world, perhaps he could be a hero. He imagined himself saving helpless people of the villages from terrible monsters, and them bestowing gifts upon him in gratitude. Succulent food, golden laced clothing, freshly forged weapons to replace the ones worn from all the fighting he did. Oh, how glorious that would be.</p><p>Despite having the biggest pile, Link was the first of the two to sort out the rolls of parchment, lining them up next to each other before placing them on the shelves, which were separated into sections split into every five hundred years. The earliest year in the section was placed from left to right, then later years stacked on top until that era was finished. Once completed, he went over to help Darmani with the pre-Hyrule parchments, as he was still not overly enthused by this tedious task.</p><p>Link hadn’t seen most of these ones, but he still wasn’t that interested in them, skimming through to see if there was a date stamped somewhere before rolling the parchment back up and placing it in its rightful place in the line. One, however, did catch his interest.</p><p>Link carefully unrolled the parchment, which was so old and frail he feared it would crumble if Darmani did so much as touch it. There were different symbols etched into the paper, although most of them had been eroded away by time, but there was one still there that caught his interest. He looked between it and the birthmark upon his left hand, comparing the two. They were a near perfect match. Sadly though, the writing underneath that would have explained what it was about had also been a victim of time, most of the letters fading to nothing.</p><p>It was mid-afternoon by the time they had finished, Darmani muttered a ‘finally’ under his breath once the Elders had checked their work and told them they could leave.</p><p>“Elder Dario?”</p><p>“Hm?” Dario was the oldest and wisest of the three elders, according to Darian. He was the oldest Goron living in the mountain, some said he was over two hundred years old. His back had started caving under his weight over the years as his body grew old and tired, turning into a hunch. Now his head rested little higher that Darmani’s, despite the fact that the younger Goron was not yet even half grown.</p><p>“When I was helping Darmani with the BHE parchments, I found one that had a bunch of different symbols on,” Link enquired, now holding up his hand for the elder to see. “One of them looked exactly like my birthmark.”</p><p>“Hmm… coincidence, I’m sure,” Dario muttered croakily, picking up his cane to support him as he slowly walked towards his study.</p><p>“But what if it isn’t?” Link persisted, standing in front of the Goron. “What if it’s a sign?”</p><p>Elder Dario sighed. “Tell you what, child. I’ll have a look with the other elders over the next few weeks and see if we can find anything, okay?”</p><p>Link just nodded and stepped aside to let Elder Dario pass, frowning softly as he watched him hobble away into the small study room and shut the door behind him.</p><p>“Where were you?” Darmani jumped on him immediately after Link left the library, growing impatient.</p><p>“Just helping Elder Dario back to his room,” Link lied with a shrug. “Wanna play Heroes and Demons?”</p><p>Darmani grinned. “Yeah, go on then!”</p><p>Darian had still no returned, even as the sun began its descent below the horizon, but the boys were too busy playing with their sticks to notice. Darmani would just lunge the stick at Link and flail it around wildly, but Link was cunning. He blocked the attacks, leaping to the side in a dodging dance, and stabbed at Darmani whenever there was an opening.</p><p>“Ow! Ow! I yield! I yield!” Link had perhaps prodded a bit too hard, dropping his stick as Darmani fell to his knees, clutching the area where he had been ‘stabbed’. He went over and kneeled next to him.</p><p>“Are you oka-”</p><p>“GOTCHA!” Suddenly Link was tackled to the ground, getting caught between the rocky path and his rocky brother with a thud, of which his shoulder blades took most of the force. He was furious.</p><p>“That’s cheating!”</p><p>“No, it isn’t,” Darmani argued with a grin, letting go of Link’s shoulders and folding his arms, the weight on Link’s legs still keeping him pinned down.</p><p>“Heroes don’t play dirty tricks,” Link huffed, trying and failing to push Darmani off him.</p><p>“I’m not the hero, remember?” Darmani reminded him, an air of arrogance about him as he finally bested his brother in the battle of wit. “I’m the demon, and demons always play dirty tricks.”</p><p>Link said nothing, trying not to let Darmani see the tears welling in his eyes from the painful shock in his back as he was tackled. Eventually Darmani got up and helped Link to his feet, noticing that it was nearly dark and the others would be looking for them. Link trailed behind, quickly rubbing his eyes to rid them of the tears that threatened to fall. He hadn’t just hurt his back; he would never admit it but Darmani had hurt his pride, too. Was it because Darmani was now getting older and growing bigger than him? Maybe. Maybe he would never win a fight against him again.</p><p>Darian arrived in the city not long after they sat down for dinner, taking his place at the end of the long stone table that had been carved in as part of the city many years ago. Darmani and Link were sat either side of him.</p><p>“Did you get the sorting done, you two?”</p><p>“Yes, Big Brother,” Link answered quietly, his wooden spoon waving through the soup the Gorons had given him. Opposite, Darmani was enthusiastically tucking into a rock roast.</p><p>“You two have swapped moods,” Darian observed, a small, amused smile on his face as he watched Link sulking again. “What happened?”</p><p>“I beat Link at Heroes and Demons!” Darmani bragged, raising his right fist and thumping it against his left breast twice. The Goron salute.</p><p>“He hurt my back,” Link muttered, finally taking a sip of the soup.</p><p>“I hurt your <em>pride</em>,” Darmani countered. Link scowled. How he wished he could wipe that arrogant grin off his face, but he wouldn’t dare with Big Brother sat next to him.</p><p>“Darmani, that’s enough. Gloating will get you nowhere,” Darian scolded, and Link decided that figuratively wiping the look of Darmani’s face was good enough. “And you know you need to be more careful with Link. You can’t just throw him around like you can with other Gorons.”</p><p>“Yes, Big Brother,” he sighed, now chewing a lot slower on his rocks.</p><p>“Where does it hurt, Link?”</p><p>Link pointed to the area of his shoulder blades, and once he had finished his soup, Darian escorted him to his room and pulled up his tunic to have a look.</p><p>“It is but a bruise,” Darian said gently, seeing two spots at the top of Link’s back turning purple already. “Perhaps take a break from playing Heroes and Demons for a few days, yeah?”</p><p>Link nodded in agreement, jumping up onto his bed. Gorons were quite happy sleeping on the hard rocks, but Darian had salvaged a bed for Link from the village at the bottom at the mountain, when one of its residents decided to buy a bigger one when he wed. He guessed Link would be rather grateful for its softness tonight.</p><p>“Big Brother?”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>Link hesitated for a moment before asking his question, watching Darian sink slowly onto the bed next to him, taking care not to drop all of his weight on the wood in one go in case it broke under him. “When I was in the library today, I came across a bit of parchment with lots of different symbols on it. One of them matched the birthmark on my hand.”</p><p>Narrowing his eyes, Darian took Link’s hand to examine the mark, as he had done many times before. It was too perfect a shape to be just a simple birthmark, he had thought. He thought it more likely that it was a scar, although it didn’t look like an ordinary scar, being a light brown on Link’s pale skin.</p><p>“Coincidence, I’m sure.”</p><p>Link looked more than disappointed at the answer. “That’s what Elder Dario said.”</p><p>“Elder Dario is very wise and usually correct in his hunches,” Darian affirmed, seeing that Link didn’t look any better for it. “You’re not convinced?”</p><p>“I don’t know. I felt weird when I saw it. Like a realisation, but I don’t know what it is I should have realised…” He rested his head against Darian’s arm, watching the steam rise from the fireplace in his room, where a hole had been dug to the mountain’s heart. “Elder Dario did say he’d look into it.”</p><p>“Very well. But if I were you, I wouldn’t think too much of it,” said Darian, resting his arm gently on the boy’s shoulder. “Hey, I forgot to tell you! I found you a teacher.”</p><p>Link’s eyes widened in surprise, almost immediately forgetting his worries. “Really?!”</p><p>“Indeed. She will come next week to introduce herself on your name day,” Darian promised. “Something exciting to think about, huh?”</p><p>“Y-yes! Thank you, Big Brother!” Link exclaimed, wrapping his arms around the chief in a tight hug, hearing to his soft, warm chuckle before pulling away.</p><p>“Get some rest, Link,” said Darian, lifting himself back to his feet and leaving the room. Link sat on top of the bed, the room too warm for him under the covers, and reached over to the small bedside table Darian had also salvaged for him, to keep clothes and other things that belonged to him. Sat on top of his spare tunics was an ocarina, which he picked up gently, examining it. It was lovely royal blue and felt light and delicate in his hands. On the mouthpiece was the golden symbol of the Triforce painted on a silver band wrapped around the neck. Placing his left hand on top of it, he began to wonder if there was a connection. He had been found with the ocarina at the bottom of the mountain, it being hidden among the blankets wrapped around him. Darian had said it looked expensive and thought about sending it to the Royal Family to see if it was something important, but when the boy picked it up and played it, and later fell in love with the instrument, he decided to keep them together, as they had been found.</p><p>“<em>Link…</em>”</p><p>He looked up suddenly, wondering where that voice had come from. It was deep and quite rough, but it didn’t sound like anyone he knew.</p><p>“Hello?” Putting the ocarina to one side, he hopped off the bed and searched around his room. He opened the door and went out again, calling out again for whoever that person was, but they didn’t answer. After a few moments of silence, he turned around and went back to his room.</p><p>Eventually, he agreed with himself that he was just imagining it, and settled down, watching the steam rising in the fireplace to help him relax into sleep, but there was still a small doubt planted in the back of his mind, and no matter how hard he tried to let it go, it just wouldn’t disappear.</p>
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